


can't we just (sleep)talk?

by iPhone



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romance, Sleeptalking, sleep talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-10 22:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20143162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iPhone/pseuds/iPhone
Summary: Chloe bears witness to Beca’s sleeptalking problem.





	can't we just (sleep)talk?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kimmania](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimmania/gifts).

> This is for kimmania who donated money for my birthday fundraiser and requested "Bechloe + sleeptalking" as her fic prompt. You are a kind soul and so, so generous. Thank you for your kind donation to Planned Parenthood!!
> 
> Title is loosely inspired by "Talk" by Khalid.
> 
> All mistakes are mine because it is pretty unbeta'd, but thank you [yearinla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yearinla) for catching mistakes here and there for me. <3

#  _ i. _

It is the night before finals at the Lincoln Center. The Bellas are all abuzz with jittery nervousness. 

Chloe just wants to sleep.

She smiles at the sight of Aubrey gracefully accepting the pillow Lily offers her, though she holds it warily for a moment, like she does not know what to do it.

Her steadiness is gone in a flash, however, and her entire body relaxes just before she’s swinging the pillow with precision and deadly accuracy.

Chloe does a quick headcount and smiles to herself when she realizes who is missing from their impromptu Bellas gathering in hers and Aubrey’s room.

She slips away, unnoticed.

* * *

Right to Beca's hotel room.

“Hey,” Chloe greets when Beca opens her hotel room door. “You’re missing all the destressing.”

Beca smiles wryly and opens the door wider to allow Chloe in. “So are you, then. If you’re here.”

“No Bella should be alone on the evening of their first finals competition,” Chloe recites. She nudges Beca with her shoulder playfully when she brushes past, ignoring Beca’s grumbling in lieu of gasping when she notices Beca’s laptop and headphones. “Please don’t tell me you’re working on last minute setlist changes, Bec.”

Like she does whenever Chloe’s nickname for her slips past her lips, Beca’s brow furrows, but only for a moment. “I’m not,” she promises. “I’m just…” she gestures at the bed. “Listening to music.”

Chloe picks up on her tone right away. Following Beca’s lead, she perches on the edge of the bed and waits for more instruction from Beca – Beca who has been more open recently, but whom Chloe knows to be conscious of her own space at any given time. Beca glances up at her as she resettles on her bed. Beca grabs her headphones and just as Chloe thinks Beca is about to leave her hanging, Beca unplugs her headphones from her laptop and begins neatly wrapping up the cord.

“Want to...watch some YouTube videos with me?” Beca offers.

Chloe refrains from nodding quickly and leaping onto the bed with excitement. 

“I would _ love _ that.”

* * *

“Have you ever watched one of those hot dog eating contests?”

“God, please, no–okay, yep. We’re watching it.”

* * *

“Oh, this twenty-five ways to tie a scarf video would have been helpful. I still can’t decide how I want to wear my scarf tomorrow.”

Beca snorts. “As helpful as twenty-five ways to cook a chicken?” A pause. “It’d be cute as a belt," she suggests quickly, then proceeds to avoid Chloe's eyes.

* * *

Beca’s recommended videos include a lot of movie soundtracks and top forty hits. Chloe swallows at the memory of how they had all banded together to help Beca put together an ideal setlist while also making up with Jesse.

Chloe tries not to be jealous, she really does. She wants Beca to be happy and safe and _ loved _.

Chloe just doesn’t know how to show she can provide those exact things for Beca.

“Pick a song,” Beca says suddenly, startling Chloe out of her brief reprieve.

Chloe is disoriented when she comes to. The room is dark and she is snug and comfortable under the sheets. Her back aches a little bit because she is still propped up a little against the headboard, but a pillow was placed behind her lower back and the comforter was pulled up over her lap.

That would be sweet enough on its own if it weren’t for the fact that Beca – Chloe _ hopes _it’s Beca in the darkness – is pressed up against her side, essentially cuddled into Chloe’s side. They’re barely touching, but they are close enough that Chloe can feel the warmth radiating off Beca’s back.

A part of her wants to lie down completely and wrap Beca up in her arms, but she figures that would be weird and crossing more boundaries than she already crossed when she barged in Beca’s shower. Not her proudest moment.

Chloe sighs and tries to figure out how to move from the bed without too much creaking or jostling. 

“For you,” Beca mumbles.

Chloe blinks away the last dredges of sleep. “Beca?” she whispers. A quick glance past the gap in the hotel room’s blinds and she can see that it is still dark outside. Another quick glance over to the other bed in the room and she can tell that Amy is yet to return. “Beca,” she tries again, louder.

“Chloe,” Beca responds, sounding awake and yet, not. Chloe frowns and props herself up on her elbow so she can lean over Beca’s side, careful not to brush unnecessarily against Beca’s body. “Chlo,” she repeats, slurring a little on the lone syllable.

“Is that my nickname?” Chloe asks distractedly, trying to force her eyes to adjust in the dark. She isn’t even sure what she’s saying, ready to tease the hell out of Beca if she’s sleep talking. Beca continues to be an enigma – adorable and mysterious all at once.

“The vending machine.”

Chloe frowns at the change in topic. Or perhaps there was never a topic to begin with. She’s so tired. “Do you need something?” she asks.

Beca doesn’t respond for a moment, then she heaves a sigh as if she is irritated or exasperated. “It plays music,” she murmurs, somehow both reverent and impatient.

Chloe nearly sags in relief. It takes additional energy to further _ not _burst into peals of giggles and risk waking Beca up. “You’re so cute,” she mutters, this time reaching over to gently touch Beca’s cheek to check if she is really asleep. Beca doesn’t bat her hand away. She manages to finally lie down comfortably, sighing in contentment when she does not jostle Beca too much. Instead, it is Beca who seems to wriggle backwards into Chloe’s side, uncomfortably trapping Chloe’s arm to her side.

As Chloe drifts off, she makes a mental note to tease Beca about it tomorrow after their performance. And maybe ask Beca if she wants to get coffee. Or maybe a quick bite for dinner. Just them.

“Just the way you are,” Beca murmurs, sounding more tired than before.

Chloe tries not to smile. Beca does not speak again for the rest of the time Chloe remains awake.

* * *

#  _ ii. _

Sometimes when Beca sleeptalks, she _sings_, apparently.

Chloe thinks it is the most adorable thing in the world. She barely restrains from protesting loudly when she overhears Amy complaining about being Beca's roommate – she complains about how Beca is always singing. Awake or dreaming, it doesn't matter to Beca.

The other Bellas giggle.

It is so beautiful to know that Beca lives and breathes music – that it thrums through her veins as poignantly as her own blood.

Chloe hopes to be able to hear it one day.

* * *

#  _ iii. _

"Grab me the keyboard," Beca mutters.

Chloe groans, blinking awake because she knows she has an early morning. As awesome as it is that Beca sometimes whispers when she sleeptalks, it is kind of inconvenient to Chloe now that they share a tiny cramped fold-out. Chloe had tried earplugs, but it had nearly made her late for her first day of work because she missed her own alarm.

She doesn't mind it terribly, she thinks as she rolls over to face Beca. Beca is lying on her back, breathing steadily. Her brow is furrowed like she's thinking hard about something important. Chloe hopes it isn't the residual strain and stress of her recent break-up with Jesse.

Slowly, Chloe reaches out to gently touch the furrow of Beca's brow, willing her to relax and slip back into a (hopefully silent sleep).

Still, never one to resist a conversation with Beca, Chloe scoots a little closer. "What are you thinking about?" she asks, wondering if Beca is done for the night. She slowly moves her hand back and away from Beca's face.

"Wait."

Chloe freezes.

"The jukebox," Beca mutters. "Song."

"The jukebox song?" Chloe asks.

Beca mumbles something incoherent, then shifts a little restlessly. Chloe quickly backs away, worried she overstepped an invisible boundary. She hates that her inappropriate crush on her best friend never really went away – she hates the late nights and long days pretending that she isn't completely in love with Beca Mitchell. Beca and all her quirks and music and the way she makes Chloe feel like she's doing something _right_ with her life.

Beca doesn't respond again for another long while, so Chloe resettles on her side of the bed and mirrors Beca's position. She stares up at the ceiling for some time, wondering.

Then, just as she is about to finally drift off again–

"Chloe."

Beca's voice follows her into her dreams.

* * *

#  _ iv. _

Sometimes when Beca sleep talks, it is of great interest to Chloe. Not that she isn’t interested in literally everything her girlfriend has to say because Chloe could listen to Beca talk forever (awake or otherwise), but just, _ sometimes _–

Chloe awakes to the sound of her alarm. She groans and slowly grapples for her phone off her bedside to hit the snooze button.

“Hey,” Chloe whispers, when Beca shifts against her back. 

Beca groans, then mumbles something completely incoherent. Her arm tenses from where it is draped around Chloe’s waist, then Beca cuddles closer than before. 

With how they're lying, curled up against each other, Beca is basically all wrapped around Chloe, her leg draped over Chloe’s thigh to lock Chloe in place. Not that she plans on being anywhere else. Not when Beca's body is warm and Chloe is essentially waking up to her own personal heated blanket.

Beca groans and shifts against Chloe’s back. Her groan sounds like a moan more than anything else.

Chloe especially loves when Beca has _interesting _dreams.

"Chloe," Beca whimpers.

_Oh_. Then there's _that_. The unmistakable whine in Beca's whimper and the way she rocks subtly against Chloe.

"Beca," she whispers back, whether this at all translates into Beca's dreams. Whether she is egging Beca along or slowly waking her up.

There is something in the way Beca says her name – soft and full of wanting. Like she has been dreaming of Chloe all night and she can no longer control herself.

As curious as Chloe is to see where this goes – to see what else Beca can say, she is more interested in what Beca can do. 

So she twists in Beca's arms, causing her girlfriend's eyes to flutter open, revealing unmistakable desire behind the haze of confusion typical to somebody when they are just waking.

"Oh," Chloe says, gently nudging at Beca's body so she's lying prone. She presses slow, languid kisses to Beca's neck "Good dream?"

* * *

#  _ v. _

Beca is rarely delegated to the couch, but sometimes she just rides the very last edges of Chloe’s nerves and they both end up saying things they don’t mean.

Chloe can see the exhaustion in her girlfriend’s eyes, but it doesn’t dim the hurt she feels. It just makes her heart tense painfully. She wishes more than anything for Beca to just talk to her – for Beca to just let her in, but it feels like the walls get higher and higher.

Chloe doesn’t want to beg, but she’s not above doing just that. She can’t lose Beca – not like this.

Sighing in aggravation when she hears only the oppressive silence of her bedroom. No sound of Beca’s teeth grinding together. No sight of Beca drooling on her pillow. No sensation of Beca’s hand wrapped up in Chloe’s t-shirt tightly like she’s afraid to let go.

Chloe wraps her robe around her shoulders and slowly opens her bedroom door. She winces at each creak in the wood panelling, but each step means she gets to be close to Beca again.

She can see the lump that makes up Beca’s body on the couch in the darkness and as her eyes from the streetlights outside her window, more features begin to stand out to her.

Chloe sighs when she notices that Beca has kicked her fleece blanket to the ground. Gathering it up, she pulls it up to Beca's shoulders, ensuring Beca is neatly tucked in.

"Don't go," Beca says, a little loudly. Chloe startles and freezes in her ministrations. She waits a moment and realizes Beca is asleep. Of course she is.

Chloe waits another moment longer before sighing again. "Where would I even go without you?" Chloe replies quietly, knowing she is speaking to Beca's subconsciousness. Knowing that there will be more time for them to talk tomorrow. And the days that follow. She sighs and sits on the loveseat next to the couch, simply watching Beca's face for a moment. "What would I do without you?" she ponders, willing her tears to stay at bay.

"Hey, that's Chloe's!"

Chloe would laugh if she weren't feeling so sad about their fight. Beca legitimately sounds upset about something – verging on angry. 

Chloe wonders for a moment how emotions manifest in a person's sleep habits. How emotions control the way your body reacts to new sleeping environments. How human it is to just want to be the subject of somebody's dreams – to be wanted and desired all the same.

"Do you know where it is?" Beca asks, voice muffled against the couch. Chloe smiles and shakes her head. She stands so she can gently move Beca's hair away from her face. Beca is practically pressing her entire face into the back of the couch. 

"You're going to suffocate, nerd," Chloe comments, attempting to maneuver Beca's shoulder. She doesn't have to do much work because Beca is rolling over on her own. She sprawls as best as she can on the couch, similar to how she sprawls in their bed. Chloe is filled with utmost affection for the sleeping woman in front of her.

"Headphones," Beca says after a moment. "For your voice."

Then she begins to snore.

"I love you," Chloe murmurs, leaning down again so she can press a kiss to Beca's ear. She lingers, wondering whether touch can translate into sound. She hopes Beca dreams of the most wonderful things.

There is always tomorrow.

* * *

#  _ vi. _

“You’re never leaving again,” Chloe declares. She wraps her arms around Beca’s waist and cuddles into her side, ignoring Beca’s grumbles about cold feet and cold hands. “I missed you so much,” she murmurs, pressing a kiss to Beca’s cheek, sloppy and light.

She is _ so _ happy to have Beca back in her arms. This tour has been grueling.

She tells Beca as much, only to receive an amused chuckle in response before Beca is pressing a kiss to her forehead, then to her nose, then with some playful coaxing – and Chloe’s playful grumbling – a kiss to Chloe’s lips.

Chloe sinks into Beca’s touch like it is their first kiss all over again.

Slowly, Beca allows Chloe to ease her back on the bed and remind her exactly what she has missed during her time away.

* * *

When Chloe wakes, she is disoriented because of how comfortable she is. She had been sleeping uncomfortably for the past two months because Beca had been away and she had gotten used to the sensation of falling asleep alone and of waking up alone.

She is not alone now, however. She does not need to open her eyes to know that she has her nose pressed into Beca's hair. The familiar smell of gentle, flowery shampoo and the accompanying sensation of Beca's soft, curly hair. Her arm is tucked around Beca's middle securely, like even in her sleep Chloe was unwilling to let her go again.

_ Good, _ she thinks, flexing her arm for a moment in a burst of possession and love. _Stay forever._

"You're never leaving," she says aloud.

She doesn't expect Beca to respond because Beca's breathing is steady and slow, like she is asleep and resting fitfully. Chloe kind of expects that after all the travelling and performing. Beca works too hard.

She is surprised however, when Beca seems to sigh in her sleep. "Marry me," she says softly.

Chloe freezes. Her limbs stiffen and her brain seems to shut down. All that's left is the pounding of her heart.

She wishes so much for Beca to be awake so that she can give Beca the most enthusiastic and resounding _yes _she can muster.

But the fact that the thought is on Beca's mind _somewhere_ is enough for the moment. It is enough for the moment that Chloe knows she can hope for that in their future with more confidence.

Of course, Beca _would_ randomly propose to her while sleeptalking. It is so opportune. Chloe has only ever fallen in love slowly with Beca with these private moments – well, pseudo-private. Moments where she can dream and imagine exactly what goes on in Beca's mind. The things she doesn't tell Chloe. Random thoughts and ideas.

It feels kind of ironic that there have been all those one-sided conversations Chloe has had with Beca. Now she wishes desperately for Beca to wake up and join her so they can take this step together. It is additionally more poignant that Chloe has felt less and less inclined to react at all to Beca's sleeptalking because she finds that the real thing is so much better. Beca is open and vibrant and so, so beautiful that it bothers Chloe any moment that Beca isn't awake and making Chloe's day a little brighter.

She sighs and resigns herself to falling back asleep, at least until they can wake up together and decide what take-out to order.

Then, Beca shifts and turns in her arms.

Her eyes are wide-open and she looks a little frightened. "Chloe?" she rasps. "Did you–?"

It takes Chloe a long time to catch up because she's surprised to see Beca's eyes staring back at her.

"Are you asleep?" is what she manages to ask when her mouth catches up to her brain, even if Beca is staring straight at her. Beca, with messy hair and flushed cheeks and a blooming hickey on her neck. _Yikes,_ Chloe thinks distractedly before she lifts her eyes back to Beca's face again.

"Chloe," Beca says softly. "Marry me."

"Am _I_ asleep?" Chloe asks, weaker this time. Her heart continues to pound even as her body slowly unfreezes.

Beca looks like she's trying not to laugh even if desperation shines from her eyes like anchors keeping Chloe at bay. "_Chloe_," she implores. "Please, will you marry me?"

"A hundred times yes," Chloe finally manages to say. She pinches herself, then she pinches Beca. At Beca's yelp and the residual pain in her own arm, Chloe nods as best as she can, tangling her hair even more as it rubs against her pillow. She could care less. "Beca, _yes_. I just – I thought you were asleep!" she exclaims.

"I'm not asleep," Beca says. Her hands are a little shaky as she pulls Chloe in for a deep kiss. "I love you," she murmurs. "I love you so much and I never want to be without you."

"This isn't a dream," Chloe mumbles against Beca's mouth. She repeats it, eventually losing steam because Beca is covering her mouth more efficiently with her own and her hands start to wander. "But ask me again–" she pants out, as Beca's lips descend lower, down her chest and stomach.

Beca does, over and over.

**Author's Note:**

> You can read about what I tried to do with my [PP for PP fundraiser on my blog, under the tag](https://isthemusictoblame.tumblr.com/tagged/pp-for-pp).


End file.
